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1 US FL: Ex-Deputy U.S. Marshal Admits Armed RobberyThu, 17 Dec 2015
Source:Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Author:McMahon, Paula Area:Florida Lines:62 Added:12/20/2015

A former deputy U.S. Marshal from Broward County is facing at least 10 years in federal prison after admitting he used his duty weapon to steal 24 pounds of marijuana from drug dealers in northern California.

Clorenzo Mack Griffin, 38, who grew up and lived in Fort Lauderdale, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of conspiring to commit robbery at a hearing in federal court in Sacramento, Calif. He was fired after his arrest.

Griffin admitted he planned, financed and took part in the Oct. 11, 2014 armed robbery in Yuba City with two friends from Miami, who have already admitted their roles in the crime, according to court records.

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2 US FL: 11 Companies Challenge State's Medical-MarijuanaTue, 15 Dec 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Powers, Scott Area:Florida Lines:86 Added:12/16/2015

Eleven companies challenged Florida's limited medical-marijuana program Monday by contesting how the state awarded licenses to start the industry.

The challenges mean another round of court proceedings and judges' decisions before anyone can be certain that Knox Nursery of Winter Garden and the four other regional licensees have legal authority to grow marijuana and process and sell medicines derived from it.

The challenges will be heard by Florida Division of Administrative Hearings judges. The potential timing of those cases was unclear Monday, though each challenge may be handled on a case-by-case basis.

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3 US FL: Altamonte Censors Medical Pot TermsFri, 04 Dec 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Rodgers, Bethany Area:Florida Lines:116 Added:12/05/2015

Sellers Can't Use Many Words to Describe It

For any medical-marijuana joints interested in coming to Altamonte Springs, the most descriptive business names have already gone up in a puff of green smoke.

In fact, the previous sentence contains no fewer than six words that these establishments would be barred from using.

All total, Altamonte Springs leaders have prohibited 27 terms from appearing in the titles of medical-marijuana retail centers, including the words "medical" and "marijuana."

And "dope,"

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4 US FL: Column: Banning Pot Terms Is Reefer MadnessFri, 04 Dec 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Maxwell, Scott Area:Florida Lines:111 Added:12/05/2015

Officials in Altamonte Springs seem really worried about pot.

I'm worried about them ... and whether they're smoking it.

Because you'd have to be puffing on something pretty strong to pass the goofy ordinance they did this week - one that tells medical marijuana businesses they can't use words such as "medical" and "marijuana" in their business names.

First of all, I should mention the tiny little detail that medical marijuana isn't even legal in this state. But Altamonteans don't care about that. They want to regulate any possible medicalpot businesses that might crop up if the state ever does legalize it.

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5 US FL: 5 Growers Get State's 1st Pot LicensesTue, 24 Nov 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Powers, Scott Area:Florida Lines:118 Added:11/26/2015

The Florida Department of Health has awarded licenses to Knox Nursery in Central Florida and four other growers in other regions of the state to become the first in Florida to legally grow marijuana and manufacture medicines from it.

Knox, a Winter Garden greenhouse operator, was selected from among eight companies vying to get the state's exclusive license for the 18-county region that forms a broad swath from St. Petersburg to Daytona Beach and includes Orlando.

The Florida Department of Health issued the northwest-region license to Hackney Nursery Co.; the northeast to Chestnut Hill Tree Farm; the southwest to Alpha Foliage; and the southeast to Costa Nursery Farms.

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6US FL: College Football Coaches Grapple With MarijuanaTue, 24 Nov 2015
Source:Fresno Bee, The (CA) Author:Thompson, Edgar Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:11/26/2015

Florida State University defensive back Greg Reid was supposed to be a first-round NFL draft pick.

University of Florida defensive back J.C. Jackson was supposed to be an elite playmaker in the Southeastern Conference.

University of Central Florida running back Will Stanback was supposed to help carry the Knights' offense during what has turned out to be a dismal season.

Instead, their links to marijuana altered the trajectory of their promising careers.

At least 12 UF players have been linked to marijuana use by law enforcement since the start of former coach Will Muschamp's tenure in 2011, and the number is not considered exceptionally high for major college-football programs. Arrest figures were much higher during former Gators coach Urban Meyer's tenure. When schools announce that football players have been suspended for undisclosed rule violations, many immediately suspect marijuana was involved.

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7 US FL: Florida Medical Marijuana Plan Expanded To 20 GrowersTue, 17 Nov 2015
Source:Bradenton Herald (FL) Author:Auslen, Michael Area:Florida Lines:67 Added:11/18/2015

TALLAHASSEE -- Patients who have been given a year to live could soon be allowed to use marijuana to ease their pain.

A Florida House panel on Tuesday OK'd legislation that would expand an existing, small medical marijuana program and a law allowing terminal patients to try experimental drugs. Now, with two doctors' approval, a patient can buy marijuana from a licensed grower in the state.

"Cannabis should be the first option for patients, rather than the last resort," said Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, speaking on behalf of Cathy Jordan, a Parrish resident who has suffered from ALS for 29 years. "No one should have to go through what I did to get their medication."

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8 US FL: Deputy Is Charged In Marijuana ProbeSun, 15 Nov 2015
Source:Palm Beach Post, The (FL)          Area:Florida Lines:30 Added:11/15/2015

Authorities say they have arrested a deputy for her alleged role in a marijuanaselling business following a month-long investigation. St. Lucie County sheriff 's deputies said an anonymous tipster told them deputy Heather Tucker, 27, was involved in drug activity.

Authorities searched the apartment she was staying at with her boyfriend and another couple Friday and said they found felony amounts of marijuana, packaging materials and other items typically associated with the sale and distribution of marijuana.

Tucker was charged with marijuana possession of more than 20 grams, marijuana possession with intent to sell and possessing drug equipment.

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9 US FL: Broward Reduces Penalty For Pot PossessionWed, 11 Nov 2015
Source:Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Author:Wallman, Brittany Area:Florida Lines:122 Added:11/15/2015

Civil Citations Can Replace Criminal Arrest, County Says

Pot smokers busted by cops in Broward County with a joint or a baggy of marijuana could walk away with a civil fine and a clean criminal record.

Broward commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to create a lighter penalty for small-time possessors of marijuana. The county can't decriminalize an illegal drug, and police officers still have the option to treat the offense as a misdemeanor crime.

But commissioners lamented the lives they say have been ruined by arrest or jailing on what they consider a minor infraction. Twenty states have decriminalized marijuana under certain circumstances, and voters in Broward overwhelmingly supported legalization of medical marijuana when it hit the Florida ballot, but failed, last year.

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10US FL: Sellers Sidestep Law On Synthetic PotMon, 19 Oct 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Silvestrini, Elaine Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:10/19/2015

Prosecutions Are Up, but Formulas Change Quicker Than the Drug Code Can

TAMPA - Synthetic marijuana and other drugs continue to bedevil authorities, who say some progress is being made in the battle against unregulated chemicals that are landing teenagers and young adults in emergency rooms with horrifying reactions.

Although prosecutions mount, authorities say local law enforcement is frustrated by drug sellers who make minor changes in chemical formulations to get around the law, staying just out of reach of police. Once a substance is specifically listed as illegal, a new formula is created.

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11 US FL: LTE: Fighting Crime, DrugsThu, 15 Oct 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Jr, Charles M . Area:Florida Lines:30 Added:10/16/2015

The liberal media has demonized mandatory minimum drug sentences, referring to them as punishment for 'nonviolent' crimes. What about the violence that illegal narcotics have done to a large segment of our population? Comparing the cost of incarcerating drug offenders with the cost of drug damage would be instructive.

Mandatory minimum sentences played a major role in reducing the flow of illegal drugs into Florida and the rest of the country. We seem to have lost that bit of history.

I spent seven years interviewing federal drug prisoners for intelligence on successful drug smuggling. The information was obtained at little cost. None of these inmates would have cooperated were it not for their attempts to reduce sentences.

Charles M . Fuss Jr., St. Pete Beach

[end]

12 US FL: PUB LTE: Prohibition Costs LivesFri, 09 Oct 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Sharpe, Robert Area:Florida Lines:35 Added:10/10/2015

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is going to have to think outside the drug war box if he wants to reduce heroin overdose deaths. Groundbreaking research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that states with open medical marijuana access have a 25 percent lower opioid overdose death rate than marijuana prohibition states. This research finding has huge implications for states like Florida that are grappling with prescription narcotic and heroin overdose deaths.

The substitution effect was documented by California physicians long before the JAMA research. Legal marijuana access is correlated with a reduction in opioid and alcohol abuse. The marijuana plant is incapable of causing an overdose death. Not even aspirin can make the same claim, much less alcohol or prescription narcotics. The phrase 'if it saves one life' has been used to justify all manner of drug war abuses. Legal marijuana access has the potential to save thousands of lives.

Robert Sharpe, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.

[end]

13US FL: Editorial: Invest More In Drug TreatmentMon, 05 Oct 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL)          Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:10/05/2015

A surge in heroin use in Hillsborough County and throughout Florida underscores the need for increased state funding for substance abuse treatment and mental health services. Gov. Rick Scott has wisely recognized that Florida is not doing enough to help people addicted to drugs and living with mental illness, and the Legislature next year should follow his lead and invest more money in these critical services.

Heroin deaths in Florida reached an all-time high in 2014 of 447 people, according to a report released last week by state medical examiners. Hillsborough County recorded 22 heroin-related deaths in 2014, up from just three a year earlier. Officials have already linked 18 Hillsborough deaths to heroin in the first half of this year. Public health officials across the country say law enforcement's crackdown on doctor shopping, pill mills and the opioid drug oxycodone has prompted the addicted to look for an alternative. Increasingly, drug users are turning to heroin, a relatively inexpensive opioid that is easy to obtain as drug cartels from Mexico find ways to produce a more potent product and smuggle it north, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The spike in heroin deaths highlights an enormous gap in the care offerings for drug addicts, a problem Florida would be smart to quickly address.

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14US FL: Heroin Makes Fast, Deadly Comeback In HillsboroughMon, 28 Sep 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Sullivan, Dan Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:09/29/2015

Why Is Unclear, But The Surge Comes As Prescription Drug Deaths Drop

Heroin deaths are on the rise across the Tampa Bay region - but they're exploding in Hillsborough County.

Heroin has killed four times as many people in Hillsborough in the past two years as it did in all of the previous four years combined.

Data from the Hillsborough Medical Examiner's Department reflects a dramatic increase in fatalities attributed to the drug, which has seen a resurgence statewide and nationally following a crackdown on the prescription drug abuse epidemic.

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15 US FL: Jury Convicts Man in Miami Medical Marijuana GrowhouseSat, 26 Sep 2015
Source:Miami Herald (FL) Author:Ovalle, David Area:Florida Lines:72 Added:09/28/2015

A jury did not believe a Miami-Dade man who insisted he grew 15 marijuana plants inside his home only to help ease the suffering of his cancer-stricken wife.

The six-member jury on Friday night convicted Ricardo Varona of trafficking more than 25 pounds of marijuana and operating a marijuana growhouse. Taken into custody to await sentencing, Varona faces a mandatory minimum of three years in prison.

Varona, 43, was the second South Florida man in the past six months to claim "medical neccesity" in operating a marijuana growhouse. Unlike in the Varona case, a Broward jury in March acquitted 50-year-old Jesse Teplicki, who admitted he grew 46 plants to battle years of nausea and fatigue.

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16US FL: Editorial: Legislature Should Act On Medical PotThu, 10 Sep 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL)          Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:09/11/2015

Supporters of a movement to legalize marijuana for medical use in Florida reached an important milestone last week, gaining enough valid petition signatures to prompt a Florida Supreme Court review of the ballot language.

This was expected after the effort fell just shy of winning enough votes in 2014 and the Legislature refused to take up the issue this year. It should be clearer than ever to legislators that they have one more chance to pass legislation that legalizes medical marijuana or voters likely will do it themselves next year by amending the state Constitution.

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17 US FL: PUB LTE: Reforms Are OverdueTue, 08 Sep 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Armentano, Paul Area:Florida Lines:40 Added:09/09/2015

Kudos to columnist John Romano for acknowledging that it is long past time to correct Florida's 'ill-advised anti-marijuana crusade.'

No other state routinely punishes minor marijuana infractions more severely than Florida. Under state law, marijuana possession of 20 grams or less (about two-thirds of an ounce) is a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to one year imprisonment and a $1,000 fine.

Marijuana possession over 20 grams, as well as the cultivation of even a single pot plant, are defined by law as felony offenses - punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Annually, an estimated 60,000 Floridians are arrested for possessing marijuana, the third-highest total of any state.

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18 US FL: Group to Push Amendment That Would Completely LegalizeWed, 02 Sep 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Powers, Scott Area:Florida Lines:54 Added:09/03/2015

Petitions will hit the streets soon for a proposed constitutional amendment that would fully legalize marijuana use, possession and cultivation by adults in Florida.

A political-action committee called Floridians For Freedom, associated with a longtime marijuana-advocacy group called the Florida Cannabis Action Network, said Tuesday that it had received state approval to begin seeking signatures to get their measure on the November 2016 ballot.

The measure is distinct from another amendment drive run by United For Care and led by Orlando lawyer John Morgan because Morgan's group wants to legalize marijuana for medical purposes only. Floridians For Freedom wants it legalized for all uses, including recreation.

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19US FL: Editorial: Ease Drug Sentences CautiouslyFri, 28 Aug 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL)          Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:08/30/2015

A new federal program that reduces drug offenders' long sentences should cut costs and improve the judicial system. But the exercise requires close monitoring. No one should forget the culprits were sent to prison for grave crimes.

The drug trade, after all, kills thousands each year - users and those killed in the violent street crimes related to drugs.

Illegal drugs' devastating damage to society should not be minimized as federal officials ease sentencing practices.

But, as the Tribune's Elaine Silvestrini found, the Justice Department's Smart on Crime Initiative looks to be a reasonable way to reduce inordinately long sentences without giving criminals a pass.

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20 US FL: OPED: Human Link Helps Addiction Recovery but It's NotThu, 27 Aug 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Settles, Cameron Area:Florida Lines:80 Added:08/28/2015

When I was 13 years old, I decided to never touch drugs or alcohol due to my family's history of addiction. And I stuck to it.

But if I trust author Johann Hari's recent TED Talk, "Everything you know about addiction is wrong," I should feel free to experiment. In the talk, Hari argues that the sole root of and cure for addiction is human connection, but there are some dangerous flaws in his argument.

Hari's thesis is that there is no physical component to addiction, only a psychological one that is specifically an attempt to fill the void of human connection. The evidence he provides to illustrate this, though, is a study on lab rats that showed they would not drink cocaine water if they had friends, Portugal's decriminalizing of all drugs, and a professor who proposed calling addiction "bonding."

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21US FL: OPED: Yes, I Need Pain MedsSun, 23 Aug 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Paulson, Darryl Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:08/24/2015

As America entered the 21st century, Florida became the home of retirees, tourists and prescription drug abusers. Law enforcement officials referred to Interstate 75 as the 'Oxy Express,' as people flooded into Florida to take advantage of the state's easy access to drugs.

'Florida was ground zero for pill mills,' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Simon Gaugush.

During a six-month period in 2010 at just one pill mill in Tampa, 1,906 patients from 23 states made 4,715 visits. Doctors at this one facility wrote prescriptions for 1 million oxycodone pills.

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22 US FL: County Looks At Easing Pot LawsSun, 23 Aug 2015
Source:Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Author:Kleinberg, Eliot Area:Florida Lines:79 Added:08/24/2015

Staff Researches Idea for a Much-Reduced Penalty for Small Amounts.

WEST PALM BEACH - Palm Beach County is considering making possession of a small amount of marijuana a civil infraction - the equivalent of a traffic ticket - rather than a criminal offense.

But a number of issues need to be worked out in order for this approach to receive broad-based support or at least acceptance from law enforcement and the criminal justice system stakeholders," Assistant County Administrator Jon Van Arnam wrote in a memo Aug. 14.

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23US FL: Rollback Means Drug Offenders Get Early ReleaseSun, 23 Aug 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Silvestrini, Elaine Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:08/23/2015

TAMPA - On Nov. 1, 120 federal drug offenders sentenced in Tampa will be released from prison as part of a rollback of federal drug penalties.

Among the prisoners tasting freedom will be Lucas Lopez, 86, and his son, Benito, 47, Miami commercial fishermen who have served 22 years of their 30-year sentences after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilos of cocaine in Tampa.

For both men, it was their first conviction. Neither had any disciplinary issues in 22 years behind bars, according to their lawyer, Conrad Kahn of the Federal Public Defender's office.

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24 US FL: PUB LTE: A Lesson To Be LearnedTue, 18 Aug 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Chase, John Area:Florida Lines:36 Added:08/20/2015

In response to "Hepatitis cases exploding in U.S." (Nation & World, Aug. 8): Twenty years ago that headline could have been written in Switzerland. An AIDS epidemic was out of control. The Swiss were so desperate they tried something radical: They allowed hardA-core addicts to register with the state to receive clean heroin. It was controversial at first, but in 2008 the public voted to include "heroin-assisted treatment" as a normal part of their national health system. They also made methadone freely available as a pharmaceutical. The proA-gram pays for itself in improved public health and safety. It also enables addicts to hold jobs and pay taxes. The average age at registration as an addict is slowly rising, indicating that kids are not becoming addicted, and the number of addicts needing her-oin has stabilized at about 1,300, in a population about the same as Florida.

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25 US FL: Lesser Penalty For Pot WeighedWed, 05 Aug 2015
Source:Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Author:Bryan, Susannah Area:Florida Lines:63 Added:08/06/2015

Hallandale Officials Likely to Approve $100 Civil Fine

HALLANDALE BEACH - Gone to pot? Get caught in Hallandale Beach with up to 20 grams of marijuana, and you may be looking at a $100 civil fine instead of criminal charges.

Following the lead of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County, Hallandale Beach city commissioners are expected to give initial approval to the new law Wednesday night.

City Commissioner Keith London won quick support from his colleagues after pitching the idea in June. Should the measure pass, Hallandale Beach might be the first city in Broward County to pass such a measure.

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26 US FL: Poll: Majority Of Floridians Back Medical MarijuanaMon, 03 Aug 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Powers, Scott Area:Florida Lines:47 Added:08/03/2015

A new poll finds that two-thirds of likely Florida voters are willing to vote yes for medical marijuana legalization.

The survey, done by St. Pete Polls, finds majority support for medical marijuana in every market of the state. Overall, 68.2 percent of those surveyed say "yes" when asked: "If the new medical marijuana initiative makes it on to the ballot this year will you vote for it?"

"No," got 25.3 percent, and just 6.5 percent said they were undecided.

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27 US FL: PUB LTE: Our Incarceration NationSun, 02 Aug 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Kavanagh, Finn Area:Florida Lines:63 Added:08/03/2015

There is a destination where you're about five times more likely to be incarcerated than the rest of the world. It's got only 4 percent of the planet's population but claims more than 20 percent of the world's population behind bars. It's not Syria, and it's not Cuba. That place is the United States of America.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that the number of prisoners in the United States has increased more than seven times during this author's almost 50 years. Two million people in America live behind the walls. America imprisons at an astounding rate of 716 of every 100,000 people. The Prison Policy Initiative ranks Florida 10th in the U.S., imprisoning people at a rate of 891 people per 100,000. Florida's "lock 'em up" rate ranks well above authoritarian regimes such as Cuba, Rwanda and the Russian Federation. In 1970, the Florida Department of Corrections imprisoned just 8,793. Thirty years later, the number has multiplied more than 11 times to greater than 100,000 men and women in state prisons.

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28 US FL: PUB LTE: Market Demand Fuels Drug CartelFri, 17 Jul 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Dear, Doug Area:Florida Lines:40 Added:07/17/2015

Re: Notorious drug kingpin escapes | July 13

In Don Winslow's most recent book, The Cartel, he describes the elaborately choreographed escape of the head of the fictional El Federacin, the world's most powerful drug cartel. The book's time proximity to Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman's escape (it was just published in June) gives Winslow's story a prescient quality.

Winslow's account also undercuts the simplistic accusation (made by Donald Trump among others) that the escape is evidence of Mexican malevolence toward the United States. By portraying the global impact and political complexities of the illegal drug business, he shows that it is the marketplace that determines the direction of the drug business. Thus it is not a problem that will be solved by changing immigration law or policy. How would tweaking immigration policy have curtailed the illegal importation of alcohol during Prohibition?

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29 US FL: As National Heroin Rates Surge, Miami-Dade Still Lacks AFri, 10 Jul 2015
Source:Miami Herald (FL) Author:Adams, Rosalind Area:Florida Lines:113 Added:07/14/2015

For the past three years, Florida's Legislature has failed to pass a bill that would create a needle exchange program leaving the state without a program to help drug addicts avoid exposure to disease through dirty needles.

But stark new figures released this week show heroin use is surging across the country and is up around 63% in the last decade, according to a new report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In another recent study, doctors at the University of Miami and Jackson Memorial Hospital found that over one year, cases of infection at Jackson Memorial caused by injection drug use led to 17 deaths at a cost of $11.4 million, much of it borne by taxpayers.

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30 US FL: John Morgan: Expect Marijuana Gold Rush, Then ShakeoutMon, 13 Jul 2015
Source:Orlando Sentinel (FL) Author:Powers, Scott Area:Florida Lines:99 Added:07/13/2015

John Morgan, 59, is founder of the Morgan & Morgan law firm, headquartered in Orlando. He also is chairman of the pro-medical marijuana group United For Care, which is planning a second attempt, in 2016, to get statewide approval for a constitutional amendment to legalize medical marijuana in Florida. He spoke with staff writer Scott Powers.

What kind of business opportunities are likely to emerge if medical marijuana is legalized?

There will be greenhouses and grow houses; there will be dispensaries; there will be different industries that will produce ways to deliver medical marijuana, whether its brownie pans or pipes or whatever. And there will be real estate opportunities that will emerge.

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31 US FL: LTE: PoisonSat, 11 Jul 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Burchett, Stephen Area:Florida Lines:29 Added:07/13/2015

In response to 'False assumptions' (Your Views, July 7): The users of cannabis claim not a single person has died from using it. This may be true in regard to overdoses, but it is damaging to one's lungs and leads to other drug abuse, including pills, cocaine and stronger synthetic marijuana. These stronger forms of marijuana lead to hallucinations and people harming themselves or others.

Marijuana is not conducive to people driving, operating heavy equipment or doing any other job where the public is concerned.

Drugs are poisoning our younger people, and marijuana is the first phase and should remain illegal.

Stephen Burchett, Seffner

[end]

32US FL: Column: A Slight Shift On Pot ProsecutionSun, 12 Jul 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Brown, Joe Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:07/13/2015

I last served on a jury in 2007. When the 25 or so of us were called and brought into the courtroom, we were told the defendant was being tried for drug trafficking a=C2=80" four dime bags of marijuana. About ha lf of the people groaned in disA-belief, with one asking, "You brought us all the way down here for this?"

A few said they thought drugs should be legalized. One woman told how drug convictions ruined her brother's life. Others simply felt the amount involved wasn't worth prosecuting.

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33 US FL: PUB LTE: It's About The FactsSat, 11 Jul 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Chase, John G. Area:Florida Lines:31 Added:07/11/2015

In response to "Giant joint riles some" (July 7): Excellent report by Mike Salinero. He quoted one "drugfree" leader, "When you promote drug legalization on a float in a parade, it can give a really bad message to children." That may be obvious to adults, but not to kids.

Even the widely reported transition to recreational marijuana in Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon has had no effect.

According to the "Monitoring The Future" reports, use of marijuana among U.S. adolescents decreased sharply in 2014, just as the media was reporting efforts to legalize in several additional states.

We must base policy not on belief or opinion, but on evidence when it is available.

John Chase, Palm Harbor

[end]

34 US FL: PUB LTE: False AssumptionsTue, 07 Jul 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Howe, Jamie Area:Florida Lines:26 Added:07/08/2015

I know that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but the recent commentary you ran called 'What happened to the pot stigma?' (Views) has some false assumptions in it. Many of us don't believe that cannabis is dangerous. How many people have died from ingesting cannabis? Not a single one, I believe. How many deaths are caused yearly from prescription pain medicines? Forty-six deaths a day and rising. Also, I would like to point out that a new study in The Lancet Psychiatry found no increase in teen pot usage in states where medical marijuana is legal.

Jamie Howe, New Port Richey

[end]

35US FL: Parade's Giant Joint Riles SomeTue, 07 Jul 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Salinero, Mike Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:07/08/2015

Pro-Pot Group's Float Rolled Through Temple Terrace

Nothing says Fourth of July like an orange stretch limo pulling a giant marijuana cigarette down Main Street.

Local members of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws used a float in Temple Terrace's Independence Day parade Saturday to promote their views. The reaction from anti-drug groups was anything but mellow.

The Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance and Drug Free America Foundation sent out a dual news release Monday afternoon criticizing the float and questioning why parade organizers allowed it.

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36US FL: Pot Smuggler Was Willing To Do TimeMon, 06 Jul 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Morgan, Lucy Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:07/07/2015

Tommy Powell, international drug smuggler, picked an odd time to think about where he would like to retire.

It was 1984. Powell, who was just in his mid 30s, had been extradited after spending a decade on the lam overseas. He stood accused of importing more than 300,000 pounds of marijuana into the United States. A maximum sentence of life plus 70 years would have left details of his retirement entirely in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

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37US FL: Meth Activity Nearly DoublesTue, 30 Jun 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Mitchell, Kristen Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:07/02/2015

The Easy-To-Make Narcotic Is Often Made In Abandoned Buildings

ST. PETERSBURG - An overdose during the weekend and the discovery of a mobile home lab showcase a resurgent crime problem in Pinellas County: Methamphetamine activity, by one measure, has nearly doubled in the past six months.

Deputies discovered the overdose victim in the intersection of Alternate 19 and Klosterman Road and made three arrests in the discovery of the meth lab nearby, operating out of an abandoned trailer at 4720 Roberts Road.

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38 US FL: PUB LTE: Tracking Marijuana UseSat, 27 Jun 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Chase, John G. Area:Florida Lines:30 Added:07/01/2015

Re: Fact And Fiction On Medical Pot | June 22, Editorial

The referenced Lancet article concluded that while pot use is higher in states that have legal pot as medicine, usage did not increase when the medical marijuana law was enacted.

Corroboration is found in another statistic in the same database used by researchers who wrote that article. In 15 of the last 16 years, 12th-graders have said that marijuana availability has decreased from the year before. During that 16-year period, almost 20 states enacted medical marijuana laws. These two facts, taken together, directly contradict the Florida Sheriffs Association's assertion that enacting medical marijuana laws makes pot easier for adolescents to get.

John G. Chase, Palm Harbor

[end]

39US FL: Editorial: Fact And Fiction On Medical PotMon, 22 Jun 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL)          Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:06/23/2015

One of the key arguments used by opponents of legalizing medical marijuana in Florida should be put to rest. A study recently published in The Lancet Psychiatry concludes that medical marijuana laws do not increase use of marijuana by teenagers.

As the supporters of medical marijuana prepare for another campaign for a constitutional amendment, this important study should reduce the overheated rhetoric and ease some public concerns.

To be sure, heavy pot use can cause physical and psychological dangers in youths whose brains and personalities are still forming.

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40US FL: OPED: What Happened To The 'Pot Stigma'?Sun, 21 Jun 2015
Source:Tampa Tribune (FL) Author:Bennett, William J. Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:06/22/2015

Marijuana Has Gotten More Dangerous. At Stake Is The Safety Of Our Youth

Twenty years ago, drug dealers were seen for what they were - criminal and dangerous elements in our society. They were shunned by the mainstream. People who sold marijuana were considered losers, in the business of harming our children. Parents warned their kids to stay away from those known to use drugs.

But thanks to the marijuana lobby, what was once scorned is hyped and celebrated - even as the drug has become more potent, with THC, the intoxicating chemical, present at much higher levels than in the 1990s. Dealers run state-sanctioned dispensaries, lobby to further legalize their product and receive positive media coverage when doing so.

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41 US FL: Editorial: Minor Pot Possession Should Be InfractionThu, 18 Jun 2015
Source:Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)          Area:Florida Lines:90 Added:06/18/2015

South Florida's elected officials have begun lining up behind a proposal to make minor marijuana possession a civil infraction rather than a criminal charge.

The pitch is the same: Hand out $100 fines rather than jail time. It's being made by a number of local lawmakers in different cities and counties. And there are plenty of good reasons why they're right.

Diverting those caught with a small amount of marijuana toward civil infractions would help alleviate criminal court backlogs and jail overcrowding. In 2010, more than 757,000 Americans sat in jail on pot charges, according to the ACLU; Nearly 58,000 in Florida alone. The move also would free up police to investigate more serious crimes and provide an alternative to ruining a person's life for a relatively harmless act.

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42 US FL: Column: The Old Enthusiasm For Pot Prohibition Has GoneMon, 15 Jun 2015
Source:Miami Herald (FL) Author:Grimm, Fred Area:Florida Lines:74 Added:06/17/2015

Pot enforcement was a big ongoing story back when I landed my first newspaper job 45 years ago. Oh my, how we did love those police-combat-scourge-of-marijuana stories.

The Mississippi town where I worked suffered plenty of sure-enough serious crime, but robberies and burglaries, even the occasional Saturday night juke-joint killing, would hardly turn an editor's head. If the local police managed a pot bust, that was front page stuff.

The stories ran alongside photographs of the police chief, the arresting officer, the mayor himself, all them stern faced, standing behind a table displaying baggies of marijuana, rolling papers, a roach clip, a bong the size of an alto saxophone.

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43 US FL: New Street Drug Flakka Ravages User's Body, MindMon, 15 Jun 2015
Source:Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Author:Geggis, Anne Area:Florida Lines:109 Added:06/17/2015

The latest drug craze, flakka, is coming on with a rush, sending up to 20 people a day to emergency rooms across Broward County.

Such a flood of cases from a single street drug has doctors striving to devise treatments, and medical researchers laboring to understand the drug that delivers an instant high - and causes organ failure, scours kidneys like drain cleaner and sends users into a state of gibbering helplessness.

Holy Cross Hospital's Dr. John Cunha calls flakka "the perfect storm."

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44 US FL: Hallandale May Relax Penalty For Having MarijuanaTue, 16 Jun 2015
Source:Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Author:Bryan, Susannah Area:Florida Lines:57 Added:06/17/2015

HALLANDALE BEACH - People caught with a bag of marijuana weighing less than 20 grams would face a fine instead of arrest under a plan pushed by Commissioner Keith London.

Hallandale Beach may be the first city in Broward County to embrace the relaxed law.

London says he has been following a similar push by elected leaders in Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County to treat misdemeanor possession of marijuana as a civil offense with a $100 fine.

Miami-Dade commissioners are expected to vote on the plan June 30. Miami Beach has already given preliminary approval to a similar proposal.

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45US FL: OPED: It's Not So Much Police As Drug LawsFri, 05 Jun 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Allen, Danielle Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:06/05/2015

The new visibility of police violence toward African-Americans has stoked public debate about policing: What about body cameras? Should we reform police training? Perhaps we should go slow on all that military gear?

I find it difficult to sit through any of this while the underlying issue goes unaddressed: It's the drug economy, stupid.

It's well past time to legalize marijuana. But it's also time to consider decriminalizing nonviolent crimes involving other drugs, or at least to reclassify lower-level, nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors. We should also expunge felony convictions for many classes of nonviolent drug offenses to re-enfranchise, economically and politically, those who have staffed the drug trade.

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46US FL: Oped: Legalize Drugs, End The CycleSun, 31 May 2015
Source:Tampa Bay Times (FL) Author:Allen, Danielle Area:Florida Lines:Excerpt Added:06/01/2015

The new visibility of police violence toward African-Americans has stoked public debate about policing: What about body cameras? Should we reform training? Perhaps we should go slow on all that military gear?

I find it almost impossible to sit through any of this while the underlying issue goes unaddressed: It's the drug economy, stupid.

It's well past time to legalize marijuana. But it's also time to consider decriminalizing nonviolent crimes involving other drugs, or at least to reclassify lower-level, nonviolent offenses as misdemeanors. We should also expunge felony convictions for many classes of nonviolent drug offenses a=C2=80" those involving marijuana bu t for other drugs, too a=C2=80" to re-enfranchise, economically and politically, those who have staffed the drug trade.

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47 US FL: Canadian Diplomat's Son to Seek Bail in FloridaMon, 25 May 2015
Source:Globe and Mail (Canada) Author:Perkel, Colin Area:Florida Lines:85 Added:05/30/2015

A Canadian teenager caught up in a double killing in Florida will ask a judge on Wednesday to grant him bail pending a trial that could lead to his life-long imprisonment.

Marc Wabafiyebazu has pleaded not guilty to felony first degree murder and other charges in a drug-related shootout in March that left his 17-year-old brother, Jean Wabafiyebazu, dead.

Court documents filed in support of the bail application argue that Marc Wabafiyebazu, son of a senior Canadian diplomat, was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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48 US FL: OPED: How Middle America Police Turned into SoldiersTue, 26 May 2015
Source:Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Author:Coyne, Christopher J. Area:Florida Lines:110 Added:05/27/2015

We've all seen videos of Third World "police" in combat gear putting down demonstrations by physically assaulting protesters, turning heavy equipment and tear gas on them, or shooting into crowds. That's what makes the recent events in Baltimore all the more disturbing. This time the "peace officers" in military combat gear, brandishing military-grade weapons and perched on armored military vehicles, were ours.

No one knows what the Baltimore protests will look like in the coming days, though the criminal charges filed against six police officers in the homicide of Freddie Gray may have a calming effect. But the recent violence there and elsewhere has brought long-overdue attention to an important national development that had all but been ignored: the militarization of our police.

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49 US FL: Police in Florida Grapple With a Cheap and DangerousMon, 25 May 2015
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Robles, Frances Area:Florida Lines:134 Added:05/26/2015

MIAMI - A hazardous new synthetic drug originating in China is being blamed for 18 recent deaths in a single South Florida county, as police grapple with an inexpensive narcotic that causes exaggerated strength and dangerous paranoid hallucinations.

On Thursday, the Fort Lauderdale police killed a man, reportedly high on the man-made street drug, alpha-PVP, known more commonly as flakka, who had held a woman hostage with a knife to her throat.

The shooting of Javoris Washington, 29, was the latest in a series of volatile episodes that the police in South Florida have faced with highly aggressive drug users. Law enforcement agencies have had difficulty tamping down a surge in synthetic drugs, which were banned after becoming popular in clubs five years ago only to re-emerge deadlier than ever under new formulations. As soon as legislation catches up with the latest craze, manufacturers design a new drug to take its place, federal and local law enforcement agencies say.

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50 US FL: Backers: Make Pot 'Like Aspirin'Sat, 23 May 2015
Source:Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Author:Ostrowsk, Jeff Area:Florida Lines:72 Added:05/24/2015

Doctors, advocates at conference say cannabis is a safe, effective drug that should be widely available.

WEST PALM BEACH - Pro-pot activists and physicians offer a simple prescription for cannabis: Make it an easy-to-buy, over-the-counter drug.

"Marijuana should be available like aspirin," weed activist Jon Gettman said Friday during an event at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. "It is safe, it is effective.Cannabis needs to be cheap and widely available."

Gettman, a professor of criminal justice at Shenandoah University in Virginia, was one of the pot researchers who traveled to West Palm Beach for a medical marijuana conference hosted by the nonprofit Patients Out of Time.

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